Liquid crystals may include liquids in which an ordered arrangement of molecules exists. Typically, liquid crystal (LC) molecules may be anisotropic, having either an elongated (rod-like) or flat (disk-like) shape. As a consequence of the ordering of the anisotropic molecules, a bulk LC often exhibits anisotropy in its physical properties, such as anisotropy in its mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and/or optical properties.
As a result of the rod-like or disk-like nature, the distribution of the orientation of LC molecules may play an important role in optical applications, such as in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). In these applications, LC alignment may be dictated by an alignment surface. The alignment surface may be treated so that the LC aligns relative to the surface in a predictable and controllable way. In many cases, the alignment surface may ensure a single domain through the LC device. In the absence of a treated alignment surface, the LC may have many domains and/or many discontinuities in orientation. In optical applications, these domains and discontinuities may cause scattering of light, leading to a degradation in the performance of the display.
Polarization gratings may be used to periodically affect the local polarization state of light traveling therethrough (as opposed to affecting the phase or amplitude as in conventional gratings). For example, switchable liquid crystal polarization gratings (LCPGs) can be used to implement an intensity modulator that can operate on unpolarized light. More particularly, such switchable LCPGs may be used to achieve relatively high contrast modulation of unpolarized light with a relatively narrow bandwidth (such as a laser), for example, in applications including projection displays and light-shutters. For instance, some conventional LCPGs may modulate light with a contrast ratio of greater than about 200:1 in the 0th-order for light having a bandwidth of <5%. However, the contrast modulation of conventional LCPGs may degrade when applied to modulate broadband light (such as from LEDs), which may be important in many applications.